Sahara issue ignored at AU-EU-UN meeting

The Sahara issue was not on the agenda at the high-level meeting between the African Union, the European Union, and the United Nations, held in New York on Sunday, September 22. However, African Union Commission President Moussa Faki, European Council President Charles Michel, EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres discussed issues related to Africa.

«They discussed peace, development and humanitarian efforts in the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes region, with a particular focus on how to scale up humanitarian and development support in fragile contexts, including in Sudan where over 25 million people are facing acute hunger», the three parties said in a communique.

«They also exchanged views on migration, including in the context of the African Union-European Union-United Nations Tripartite Task Force on the Situation of Migrants and Refugees in Libya», the statement added.

Josep Borrell, the EU's head of diplomacy, mentioned on X that the three organizations «discussed the situation in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Libya, Sudan & Great Lakes».

The Sahara issue has declined in priority on the international stage, as evidenced by its absence from recent summits between the African Union and countries like Indonesia or China.